


Practice

by merriman



Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: Building New Lives, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3118163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merriman/pseuds/merriman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Methos and Gregor drop in on Duncan at the same time. It isn't the first time they've met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elistaire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elistaire/gifts).



> Thank you to A for beta work.
> 
> Originally written for the [2014 Highlander Holiday Shortcuts](http://hlh-shortcuts.livejournal.com/tag/2014%20fest) swap.

Of course it would turn out that MadLeod would be out somewhere when Methos arrived to crash at his place in Seacouver. Methos let himself in anyhow, having swiped a key to the place back when Duncan had bought it. He dumped his things in the spare room, tossed a load of laundry in, grabbed a beer, put on some music that was most definitely not opera, and settled in to browse the internet and relax. He'd been there for two hours when he felt someone's presence nearby. Much like the loft, this place had a private elevator, but it also had locked controls. So when Methos felt someone's presence just on the edge of his awareness, he waited to see if the elevator would respond or if someone would buzz up to be let in.

Nothing happened at first. Methos grabbed his sword and got to his feet in a single motion. A few moments later the buzzer sounded through the apartment. Methos went over to the controls and pushed the intercom. 

"Yeah?" he said, keeping it simple. No need to advertise who he was. 

"Duncan?" said someone on the other end. It was a familiar voice. Someone Methos knew but hadn't seen in a long time. He tried to place it.

"He'll be back soon," Methos said. "Why are you looking for him?"

"Who the hell is this? Man, if you did anything to him…"

Ah. Methos smiled. "Gregor? It's been at least century. Come up."

He turned off the intercom and sent the elevator down. Of course Gregor knew MacLeod. Methos had, after all, spent a fair amount of time reading Duncan's chronicles. He'd taught Greg early on, before they'd met.

The Immortal presence grew stronger until the elevator arrived back at the top floor and the doors opened, revealing Gregor Powers, standing there, grinning at Methos.

"Ben!" He stepped forward, hand outstretched. Methos took it and drew him in for a quick hug. 

"Was Mac expecting you?" Methos asked as Greg dropped a bag on the floor by the elevator. 

Greg shook his head. "Nope. What about you? You don't live here, do you? Last I saw Duncan he was living with some woman named Tessa."

Ah. Methos sighed and closed his laptop before going to swipe another of Mac's beers for Greg. "No, I just dropped in to be a leech for a while. Tessa, well. Tessa was killed several years back. I never met her myself."

Greg took the beer Methos offered and dropped himself into one of the chairs by the fireplace. He sighed heavily and took a long swig of beer before speaking. "Well, shit," he muttered. "I had an apology to make. Said some stupid crap last time I was around here. Thought maybe I'd make it up to them somehow. Take 'em out for dinner or something. What about that kid, Richie? He ever make it to the swordplay?"

Talk about poor timing. It wasn't that far to the anniversary of Richie's death and it was one reason Methos had decided to descend upon Duncan just then.

"Richie lost his head a few years back. I suggest not bringing it up with MacLeod. It's a… touchy subject, to put it mildly."

"Wow, I am absolutely horrible at this," Greg said, shaking his head. "I guess that's life for you. Can't always make amends."

Methos took a good hard look at Gregor. The kid had always been an overthinker. He'd had a tendency towards ennui even back when Methos had known him and sometimes the years could pass terribly slowly when you were Immortal. For some Immortals, if you didn't have someone to grab you by the collar and yank you back from the edge, there were some awfully big pits to fall into and it could take centuries to climb back out. That he knew very well.

"No, you can't," he agreed. "But I will tell you this from experience, Greg: You try anyhow."

Greg nodded and they both sat there for a while, staring at the empty fireplace. There wasn't any wood for it and Methos wasn't even sure it worked. It could just be for show for all he knew. He hadn't investigated it yet. He was about to get up and look when both he and Greg felt someone else and turned to look at the elevator. It started moving down without either of them unlocking it, so hopefully that meant MacLeod. Methos went for his sword anyhow and was relieved to see Greg do the same. At least he was still looking to keep his head. That was something.

When the doors opened to reveal a very bemused Duncan MacLeod (with sword drawn as well) both Methos and Greg set their blades down and smiled. Duncan set down his own sword and the bag of groceries he'd had with him and sighed.

"I'll need to go back out," he commented. "I didn't know I was shopping for three."

~~~

Greg was asleep in the spare room, Methos having said he'd take the couch. Duncan was cleaning up in the kitchen when Methos went to join him.

"So. What happened with him?" Methos asked as he started to put away the dishes from the dishwasher. "He said something about making amends."

Duncan sighed and nodded. "He was in a bad place last time he was here. Suicidal. Homicidal. He didn't want to live, but he didn't really want to die either. He was reckless. Angry."

"Gee. I've never met an Immortal like that before," Methos commented innocently. When Duncan turned a somewhat rueful look his way, Methos just shrugged. "Hey, I'm not blaming anyone for anything. Far be it from me to cast stones. My point was I've been there. I was there when I met Kronos. Just be glad Greg hit that point when you were around, and not someone who would have encouraged him."

"Yeah," Duncan agreed. He finished putting away the leftovers and poured himself and Methos the last of the second bottle of wine they'd all been drinking. "So you two were both doctors. Sounds like he's gone back to it."

"Sounds like." At dinner Greg had told them both about going back to medical school and how different it all was now. Methos had listened with more than his fair share of curiosity. It had been a long while since he'd practiced.

Duncan finished his wine and clapped Methos on the shoulder. "Thanks for letting him take the guest room. He probably won't stay long."

Methos shrugged. "Or I'll go find a hotel. I'm hardly limited by Adam Pierson's finances these days. I'm independently wealthy at the moment."

"Good for you," Duncan said, grinning. "I won't kick you out though. We'll come up with something."

When Duncan was asleep and Methos was safely ensconced on the couch he opened his laptop again, searching for medical schools he could plausibly get into.

~~~

It was around four in the morning when Methos came awake almost instantly at the sound of someone walking past the couch. He opened his eyes and let them adjust to the darkness, though the moon was shining through the front windows. He saw Greg heading into the kitchen and sat up, turning on the light at the end of the couch. Greg poked his head back around the doorway and sighed.

"Didn't mean to wake you," he said to Methos. "I couldn't sleep."

Methos nodded. "Happens to me sometimes too. I think it probably happens to all of us."

Greg came over to sit down on the other end of the couch where Methos' feet had been. 

"I have these dreams, about people I couldn't save."

Methos shifted his pillow and leaned back against the arm of the couch. "I have those too. I would imagine all doctors do. I'm certain Mac does."

"It's worth it though," Greg continued. "I forgot that for a while. I thought, it was too hard so it'd be easier if I just didn't try."

"And you found you had even more regrets that way?"

Greg didn't respond, but he didn't have to. Methos knew. They sat there together for a time until Methos spoke again.

"When I was younger I was very angry. Some people, their anger is a torch or a bonfire. Mine was an ice age; cold and hard and interminable. I dream about that, Gregor. And when I wake, it is a relief to know that it ended, and I tried to help people. Even if I often failed."

Greg had inched closer while Methos spoke. 

"You know there used to be one of us, a doctor who studied the mind and the body. After I was here last… I challenged Duncan. Did you know that? He could have taken my head, but he didn't. I had to go get my head right. And I found this guy and he talked me into going back into medicine. I helped out at his clinic and he said I had a gift for it. I heard he lost his head."

Methos didn't have the heart to tell Greg what had happened to Sean Burns. He'd find a way to explain it later. Some other time, when Greg was a little less raw. So instead he chuckled softly and shook his head.

"I challenged Mac too. I tried to convince him to kill me. Good thing for us he's so damned honorable."

"Yeah, good thing."

Methos was aware that Greg had gotten very close. And that he'd shifted closer in response. He wasn't sure just what Greg's intentions were, but he had some suspicions. A moment after he'd run through them one was confirmed when Greg leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't unwelcome, though Methos did allow himself a split second to consider the fact that he was now kissing one of Duncan MacLeod's former students on Duncan MacLeod's current couch while Duncan himself was asleep not too far away. They hadn't really gotten around to mentioning to Mac that they'd had a little fling the last time they'd seen each other. Of course, it hadn't lasted long. They'd both had to move on and had moved in different directions. 

As Methos drew Greg down he silently thanked Mac for buying deep and comfortable couches that could easily fit two grown men.

~~~

Somehow Greg managed to sleep through Methos getting up early the next morning and he was still asleep and curled up in the blankets on the couch when Methos came back in from his shower. Duncan was in the kitchen and Methos could smell the coffee percolating as he went to join him.

"You know, if you were going to sleep together you could just have shared the guest room," Duncan said, handing Methos a cup of coffee fresh from the pot. "It would have been a whole lot more comfortable."

"I'll keep that in mind if this ends up being more than a night," Methos said over his coffee.

"Well, if it does, use the guest room. Or better yet, get your own place," Duncan advised.

"I wasn't planning on settling down here, you know." Methos sipped his coffee and turned to inspect the contents of the refrigerator for something approximating breakfast. He hadn't been planning on staying long at all. What he had been planning on was staying mobile for a while. But plans changed. Plans changed all the time. It was why he made so many in advance.

Duncan shrugged and made that face that said he didn't believe a word Methos was saying. Methos was quite sure it was a face Duncan had created just for calling him on his bullshit. Except this wasn't bullshit. It was the truth, for once. Duncan fixed his own coffee and went back to his bedroom, leaving Methos alone in the kitchen to make toast and brood a little.

"Hey," Greg said a couple of minutes later while Methos was buttering his toast. "So, ah. Thing is, I don't really do the whole relationship thing. Haven't in a while, and I've got a job starting in the ER at Seacouver General next month so I'll be busy. Figure you're leaving town soon anyhow."

Methos almost laughed out loud. It was sweet, really, Gregor trying to let him down easy. With most other Immortals Methos would have let it go. But this was a man he recognized. He had been this man several thousand years back, clawing his way out of a nightmare of his own design. Clinging to the things that meant he wasn't who he had been, rejecting anything that brought back the past. You had to be careful in the early days. And for Immortals the early days could be decades long. Greg definitely didn't need to get mixed up with someone prone to the same depths as himself.

"It's fine, Gregor. I'll be busy anyhow. I think it's about time I got back into medicine myself. It's a good profession for people like us."

Greg smiled and got himself some coffee. "Good. And hey, when you're done getting yourself re-educated, feel free to use me as a reference. I've seen you work, after all."

Methos nodded. "That you have. I'm probably heading back out of town today. You stay with Mac for a few days. Be a thorn in his side for me."

"Will do." Greg toasted him with his coffee mug. "And Ben? Thanks. It's been good to see you."

"Good to see you too, Greg," Methos told him.

Two hours later Methos was back on the road. Mac would probably explain to Greg that Methos liked to take off on short notice. Or no notice. He'd let Greg apologize, give him the space he needed to work out who else he needed to make amends to. He'd keep him from sliding backwards. Would that Methos had had someone like Duncan a few thousand years ago. But it didn't do to dwell. Methos had places to go. Paperwork to falsify. Schools to apply to.


End file.
